Closure for dispensing containers



April 28, 1953 c. P. coRRlvEAU 2,635,649

CLOSURE FOR DISPENSING CONTAINERS Filed April 1l, 1950 INVENTOR:

Y @v+m ATTORNEYS to nt into an internal peripheral groove formed in a flange 26 of a cover member 21, said cover member 21 also being provided with a top portion 28. The cover member 21 is circular in plan and has a bore therein of the same diameter as the bore l1 in the base member I2, and is located the same distance from the center of the cover member 21 as the bore I1 is located from the center of the base member I2 so the two bores will coincide when the cover member is rotated in a counterclockwise direction in Figure 3 and that the bores 30 and I1 do not coincide with each other when the coverfmember 21 is in the position shown in Figure 1.

The cover 21 is adapted to iit 4over 'and slidably engage the side walls of the base member I2 and the cover 21 is held in place by the internal peripheral groove 25 fitting over the peripheral projection 22 of the base member I2. The base member I2 as well as the cover member 21 may be made of any suitable material such as metal, plastic and the like, and the material should be of such a nature and the peripheral flange 22 of such a size as to permit the cover member 21 to be placed over the base member I2 and to permit force to be applied on the cover member 21 to cause the ilange 25 to move downwardly so that the groove 25 will snap into position over the pron jection 22. The peripheral groove 25 is slightly larger than the peripheral projection 22 to permit the cover member 21 to rotate on the base member I2.

The cover member 21 is also provided with a suitable handle or lever 3| on the exterior thereof adapted to be engaged by the thumb or hand of an operator to rotate the cover 21 upon the base member I2.

The cover member 21 has projections 32 and 33 on the internal periphery thereof diametrically opposed to each other and the projection 32 is adapted to fit in the peripheral groove 20 and the projection 33 is adapted to t in the peripheral groove 2I in the base member I2. A vertical slot 34 having its upper end ush with the top I5 of the base member I2 communicates with the groove 2i) and a similar slot 35 communicates with the groove 2I to permit the projections 32 and 33 to t into the grooves 20 and 2| when the cap is assembled. A compression spring 36 is loosely disposed in the peripheral groove 2i with one end thereof adjacent the end Wall of the groove 2l and the other end of the compression spring is adapted to be engaged by the projection 33.

It will thus be observed that when it is desired to open the container, the handle 3I may be moved in a counterclockwise direction causing the cover member 21 to rotate in a counterclock wise direction so that the projection 33 will bear vagainst the compression spring 35 compressing the same and the projection 32 will move freely in the peripheral groove 20 until it engages the end wall of the peripheral groove 211 or reaches the position shown in Figure 5. At this time, the bore 3G in the cover member will be in alinement with the bore Il' in the base member to permit the contents of the container to be dispensed through said bores, the projections 32 and 33 also serving to guide the vcover member as it is rotated on the base member I2. Upon release of the handle 3i by the hand of an operator, the compression spring 36 will urge the projection 33 and the cover member 21 in a clockwise direction to move 4 the bore Si! out of alinement with the bore I1 to automatically close the container.

It is thus seen that there is provided a selfclosing cap member particularly adapted to be used with small containers such as tubes, cans and the like and which may be stamped or molded from any suitable material such as plastic or metal and may be readily secured to the top of the container to permit the same to be easily opened by pressure of the thumb of an operator on the lever 3i and whereby the same will close automatically when the lever 3E is released by the operator.

In the drawings and specification there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention, and although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only, and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being dened in the claim.

I claim:

A self-closing cap for a container comprising a base member having a top portion and a continuous side Wall and being substantially circular in plan, a cover member having a top portion and a continuous side wall adapted to t over and oscillatably engage the outer surface of said base member, said base member having a peripheral projection extending therearound, said cover member having a groove on the interior thereof adapted to fit ovei the peripheral projection on said base member to permit the cover member to rotate on the base member, said base member having a bore disposed in olf-center relation therein, said cover also being provided with a bore so positioned as to coincide with the bore in the base member, the side Wall of said base member having peripheral grooves disposed one in each side thereof, said base member having a pair of vertically disposed grooves extending from the top thereof, said vertically disposed grooves being disposed degrees from each other and each vertically disposed groove communicating with one end of a peripheral groove` spring means loosely disposed in one of said peripheral grooves, said cover being provided with a projection on each side thereof adapted to be passed through the vertically disposed grooves and into the peripheral grooves in said base member, one of said projections being adapted to engage one end of the spring means, said spring means normally urging the cover member to a position where the bore therein is out of communication with the bore in said base member, and said cover member having a protuberance thereon adapted to be engaged by an operator to move the same against the pressure or" said spring means to cause the bore in the cover member to coincide with the bore in said base member, said projections and said peripheral grooves also serving to guide the cover member as it is rotated. 4

CLARENCE PHILIP CORRIVEAU.

References Cited in the le of this patent Priddy June 18, 1940 

